Economy & Jobs

GDP, productivity, and jobs

This section explores how fast the economy is growing, how large it is, productivity, and employment levels. These indicators are placed alongside 16 OECD peers. Inflation and the cost of living have their own page: Cost of Living.

Canada in the world

With a GDP of about US$2.3 trillion, Canada is the world’s 10th-largest economy. Each dot below is a country, sorted by GDP on a ratio (logarithmic) scale; Canada is in maroon.

Where Canada stands

A scorecard of where Canada ranks among the peer group’s 17 economies on each measure (latest available year). Dots are ordered by rank, so further right is more favourable for Canada (lower-is-better measures like unemployment are flipped accordingly). Canada is maroon, key comparators in colour; hover a dot for its value and rank.

Quarterly GDP growth

Real (inflation-adjusted) gross domestic product, shown as the change from the previous quarter, for every quarter back to 1961. Red bars mark quarters in which the economy contracted. A recession is commonly defined as two consecutive quarters of declining real GDP; officially recognized recessions since 1980 are marked here as shaded bands. The full record places recent quarters alongside past downturns: the contractions of the early 1980s and early 1990s, the 2008–09 financial crisis, and the massive swings of the 2020 pandemic. (Statistics Canada’s published “% change” is this quarter-over-quarter measure; the figure often quoted in the news, “X% annualized”, is the same change compounded to a yearly rate.)

Real GDP growth

Annual percentage change in real (inflation-adjusted) GDP, i.e., the headline measure of how fast the economy is expanding or contracting. The most recent year or two are OECD projections rather than final figures.

GDP per capita (PPP, current USD)

GDP per capita at purchasing power parity allows meaningful comparison of living standards across countries. Canada is shown in maroon; the United States and other key comparators are highlighted in colour, with the remaining peers in light grey.

Latest GDP per capita: ranked

GDP per capita relative to the US and peers

Are Canadian living standards keeping pace? This chart shows Canada’s GDP per capita (PPP) as a percentage of the United States and of the peer-group average (the other 16 OECD economies), over time. A value of 100% means parity (equal); below 100% means Canada trails.

Labour productivity (GDP per hour worked)

GDP per hour worked measures how efficiently an economy converts labour into output. Canada’s gap relative to the United States and other leading economies has persisted for decades.

Latest labour productivity: ranked

What drives GDP per capita: productivity or hours worked?

GDP per capita is the broadest measure of material living standards. It can rise for two different reasons: each hour of work can produce more (labour productivity), or more hours can be worked per person in the population (labour utilization, which rises when a larger share of people work or they work longer). The two multiply together to give GDP per capita, so indexing all three to a common base year separates their contributions. The distinction matters because the two have very different ceilings: hours per capita can climb only so far (through higher employment or longer working hours) whereas productivity growth driven by investment, skills and innovation can compound and increase indefinitely. Canada’s productivity growth has lagged the leading economies for decades.

Unemployment rate

Harmonized unemployment rate as a percentage of the labour force, allowing consistent comparison across countries. Use the dropdown to switch age bracket — youth (15–24) unemployment runs far above the prime-age rate, and the peer ranking shifts with it.

Latest unemployment rate: ranked

Unemployment by city

The national rate hides large regional differences. This map shows the current unemployment rate in each of Canada’s largest metropolitan areas — zoom and pan to your area. From the monthly Labour Force Survey (three-month moving average, seasonally adjusted), so it stays current with the national series above; it covers the ~40 largest CMAs. (Smaller centres aren’t separately estimated by the LFS.)

Employment rate

The share of an age group that is employed. It complements the unemployment rate by capturing people who are neither working nor counted as unemployed — for instance those who have stopped looking for work. Use the dropdown to switch age bracket.

Latest employment rate: ranked

Business investment

Gross fixed capital formation as a share of GDP. This includes things like spending on machinery, equipment, buildings, and intellectual property. This investment is what builds the tools and things each worker has to use, so it is closely tied to the productivity and GDP-per-capita picture. Persistently weak investment is one of the most common explanations for weak productivity growth.

Latest business investment: ranked

Trade with the world

Canada is a deeply trade-dependent economy. Moreover, it is overwhelmingly dependent on a single partner: the United States. This section covers the overall balance with the rest of the world, the concentration of exports on the United States, and where the surplus and deficit actually reside.

Current account balance

Canada’s current account balance as a share of GDP. This is the broadest measure of our trade and income position with the rest of the world. Below zero is a deficit (the country spends and invests more than it earns abroad, financed by borrowing or selling assets to foreigners); above zero is a surplus.

Latest current account balance: ranked

Trade exposure to the United States

The United States takes about two-thirds of Canada’s merchandise exports. This share peaked near 88% around 2000, drifted down over the following two decades, and dropped sharply during the 2025 tariff conflict. Shown for scale, Canada’s next largest export markets, the European Union and China, each account for only about 5–6%. This reveals how concentrated Canada’s trade is on the United States. (Customs basis, seasonally adjusted.)

Trade balance: the US vs. the rest of the world

Canada runs a large merchandise surplus with the United States and a deficit with every other market combined, so the overall trade balance hinges on the US relationship. (Monthly, seasonally adjusted; balance = exports − imports.)

The Canadian dollar

The exchange rate against the US dollar, Canada’s dominant trading partner. Shown as the Bank of Canada publishes it: Canadian dollars per US dollar, so a higher line means a weaker loonie. The daily average series begins in 2017.

The loonie doesn’t move in lockstep against every currency. Indexed to 2017 (the start of the daily series), this compares its value against the US dollar, the euro, and the Japanese yen. A rising line means the loonie has weakened against that currency.

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